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entitled 'Decennial Census: Census Bureau and Postal Service Should
Pursue Opportunities to Further Enhance Collaboration' which was
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Report to Congressional Requesters:
September 2011:
Decennial Census:
Census Bureau and Postal Service Should Pursue Opportunities to
Further Enhance Collaboration:
GAO-11-874:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-11-874, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
The Census Bureau (Bureau) and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) collaborated
on aspects of the 2010 Census and prior decennials, and those efforts
generally went well in such areas as address list development. But
both agencies face challenges: the Bureau needs to control the
escalating cost of the decennial census and maintain its accuracy,
while USPS must improve its financial condition.
As requested, GAO examined opportunities to enhance collaboration in
such areas as technology, personnel, and facilities that could improve
the cost-effectiveness of the 2020 Census and generate revenue for
USPS. GAO analyzed Bureau and USPS data and documents, compared the
agencies’ existing collaborative efforts with prior GAO work, and
interviewed agency officials.
What GAO Found:
The Bureau and USPS are expanding collaborative efforts for the 2020
Census. The collaborative efforts include a new Bureau initiative to
continuously update its master address list using USPS and local
address information. This could allow the Bureau to limit the size of
field operations needed to develop an accurate and complete address
list for the 2020 Census. The Bureau and USPS also plan to update
their 1995 memorandum of understanding to, among other matters, help
ensure that both agencies benefit from their collaborative efforts.
Bureau officials explained that under the 1995 memorandum, the agencies’
collaboration typically benefited the Bureau more than USPS. Now both
agencies would like to improve each other’s address and geographic
information. One new effort anticipated under the revised memorandum
of understanding would provide USPS with the Bureau’s geographic data
products and support, which USPS hopes to use to improve its mail
routing and other business decisions. The revised memorandum of
understanding is expected to be approved later this year.
Additional opportunities exist for the Bureau to take advantage of the
knowledge and experience of USPS mail carriers, including retirees.
Bureau and USPS officials agree that USPS mail carriers are familiar
with their communities, so hiring mail carriers as temporary census
workers could allow the Bureau to, among other things, develop a more
accurate address list for the 2020 Census. However, using mail
carriers to conduct census field operations at USPS pay rates would
not be cost-effective. In 2010, USPS mail carriers cost on average
about $41 (city) or $34 (rural) per hour compared to about $15 per
hour for census enumerators.
In the 2010 Census, about 19-million forms could not be delivered—also
known as undeliverable as addressed mailings. The Bureau, in its
comments to a copy of this draft report, provided a summary of reasons
for why forms were not delivered. These reasons include the house was
vacant or there was no mail box. Thus, now that the Bureau has
compiled this information, it will be important for the Bureau to work
with USPS to assess strategies to reduce the number of undeliverable
as addressed mailings, as undelivered mail results in additional
operational and waste-disposal costs for USPS and additional postage
fees for the Bureau.
The Bureau works with the General Services Administration to lease
space for its local offices during the census. For the 2010 Census,
the Bureau leased two USPS locations for a total cost of $330,000.
While USPS officials stated that ongoing efforts to downsize the USPS
could increase the availability of facility space that could be used
by the Bureau in the next census, USPS hopes to sell these facilities,
and it is uncertain how many will be available in 2020 (and what
condition those facilities would be in if they were available).
What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommends the Secretary of Commerce and USPS consider (1)
expanding their current collaborative efforts to include recruiting
mail carriers, including retirees, for the 2020 Census, and (2)
assessing whether strategies can be developed to reduce the number of
“undeliverable as addressed” census mailings. USPS agreed with GAO’s
recommendations. Commerce disagreed with the second draft
recommendation concerning analyzing the reasons for undelivered
mailings. GAO revised the recommendation to focus on developing a
strategy to help reduce costs involved with processing undelivered
mail.
View GAO-11-874 or key components. For more information, contact
Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or goldenkoffr@gao.gov or Phillip
Herr at (202) 512-2834 or herrp@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
Opportunities Exist to Enhance the Partnership between the Bureau and
USPS:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Comments from the U.S. Postal Service:
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce:
Appendix III: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments:
Figures:
Figure 1: The Average Cost of Counting Each Housing Unit (in Constant
2010 Dollars) Has Escalated Each Decade, While Mail Response Rates
Have Declined:
Figure 2: Example of a Mail Piece Containing an Intelligent Mail
Barcode and Bureau Benefits:
Abbreviations:
Bureau: U.S. Census Bureau:
GSA: General Services Administration:
USPS: U.S. Postal Service:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
September 30, 2011:
The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy:
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Jason Chaffetz:
House of Representatives:
In some respects, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) and U.S. Postal
Service (USPS) are operationally similar in that they fulfill their
missions by processing large amounts of paper, delivering it to
millions of housing units across the country, and employing a large
workforce. Additionally, both agencies face unique financial and
management challenges. The Bureau has the challenge of controlling the
escalating cost of the decennial census--especially of field
operations--while maintaining its accuracy. The 2010 Census cost about
$13 billion (almost $5 billion more than the 2000 Census--in 2010
dollars) and was the most expensive population count in our nation's
history. At the same time, while USPS has achieved cost savings in the
last 5 years, its financial condition has deteriorated significantly
since fiscal year 2006, and its financial outlook is grim in both the
short and long term. USPS has been experiencing billion-dollar losses
and cash shortfalls over the last 5 years, and expects to reach its
$15-billion borrowing limit[Footnote 1] this fiscal year. In addition,
on June 22, 2011, USPS officials announced that USPS will suspend its
employer's contributions for the defined benefit portion of the
Federal Employees Retirement System in order to conserve cash and
preserve liquidity. The following month USPS announced it planned to
study the closure of approximately 3,700 retail offices. We have
reported extensively on the feasibility of USPS increasing revenue and
remaining viable in the face of declining mail volumes resulting from
the recession and the continuing shift to electronic communication
alternatives.[Footnote 2] For these and other reasons, in 2009, we
placed USPS's financial condition and outlook on our list of high-risk
programs and agencies.[Footnote 3]
The Bureau and USPS collaborated on aspects of the 2010 Census and
prior decennials, and those efforts generally went well. At your
request, we examined planned and unexplored opportunities to enhance
collaboration in such areas as technology, personnel, and facilities
that could improve the cost-effectiveness of census operations for the
2020 Census and possibly generate revenue for USPS.
To collect data and information for this report, we reviewed relevant
documents, including the agencies' documentation of lessons learned
from the 2010 Census, and we interviewed agency officials to identify
current and planned collaborative activities. To determine existing
and unexplored technological efforts that could be shared between the
agencies, we reviewed relevant documents including agency strategic
plans, interviewed agency officials about current practices such as
the Intelligent Mail Barcode, and visited a mail distribution center
in Baltimore, Maryland, to understand how 2010 Census mail pieces
would have been shipped and received and whether there could be
improvements to that process for the 2020 Census. To determine whether
there were opportunities for additional collaboration for personnel,
we examined 2010 Census hiring data from the Bureau and we interviewed
agency officials and USPS labor union representatives to discuss the
hiring of mail carriers as temporary census workers. To determine
whether additional collaboration between USPS and the Bureau could
include more uses of physical assets, we examined 2010 Census leasing
documents and interviewed officials from the Bureau, USPS, and the
General Services Administration (GSA). Finally, we compared the
agencies' existing collaborative efforts to key practices we
identified in prior GAO work regarding sustaining and enhancing cross-
agency collaboration[Footnote 4].
We conducted this performance audit from December 2010 through
September 2011 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audits to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objective. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objective.
Background:
The decennial census is a constitutionally mandated undertaking that
is used, among other things, to apportion seats in Congress, redraw
congressional districts, help annually allocate billions of dollars in
federal aid to state and local governments, and inform investment
decisions by the public and private sectors. As shown in figure 1, the
cost of enumerating each housing unit has escalated from around $16 in
1970 to around $97 in 2010, in constant 2010 dollars (an increase of
over 500 percent). Costs are driven in part by, the mail response rate-
-a key indicator of a cost-effective census--which has declined from
78 percent in 1970 to 63 percent in 2010. A variety of factors account
for the declining response rate, including increases in non-English
speakers and people residing in makeshift and other nontraditional
living arrangements. Given these and other sociodemographic
challenges, the Bureau has been investing substantially more resources
each decade just to try and match the results of prior enumerations.
Figure 1: The Average Cost of Counting Each Housing Unit (in Constant
2010 Dollars) Has Escalated Each Decade, While Mail Response Rates
Have Declined:
[Refer to PDF for image: combined vertical bar and line graph]
Year: 1970;
Average cost per housing unit (in constant 2010 dollars): $16;
Mail response rate: 78%.
Year: 1980;
Average cost per housing unit (in constant 2010 dollars): $30;
Mail response rate: 75%.
Year: 1990;
Average cost per housing unit (in constant 2010 dollars): $39;
Mail response rate: 66%.
Year: 2000;
Average cost per housing unit (in constant 2010 dollars): $70;
Mail response rate: 66%.
Year: 2010;
Average cost per housing unit (in constant 2010 dollars): $97
(estimated)[A];
Mail response rate: 63%.
[A] The 2010 Census life cycle runs from 2002-2013, so costs for the
2010 Census are not yet final.
Note: In the 2010 Census the Bureau used only a short-form
questionnaire. For this report we use the 1990 and 2000 Census short-
form mail response rate when comparing 1990, 2000, and 2010 mail-back
response rates. Census short-form mail response rates are unavailable
for 1970 and 1980, so we use the overall response rate.
Source: GAO analysis of Census Bureau data.
[End of figure]
According to the Bureau, several factors were behind the escalating
costs of the 2010 Census, such as the need to hire about 585,000
temporary field staff to count the more than 46-million households
that did not mail back their census forms, and substantial investments
in updating the Bureau's address list--including address canvassing, a
door-to-door effort to verify the address list's accuracy in 2009.
USPS also faces financial challenges, especially as customers shift to
electronic communications and electronic payments. Total mail volume
peaked in fiscal year 2006 at 213-billion mail pieces and is expected
to decline by about 22 percent by the end of fiscal year 2011, to
about 167-billion mail pieces. In the first three quarters of this
fiscal year, the volume for First-Class Mail--USPS's most profitable
product--declined by 6.5 percent compared to the same period last
year. Over the last 5 fiscal years, USPS has experienced a cumulative
net loss of nearly $23 billion, and has already reported a net loss of
nearly $5.7 billion through the first nine months of fiscal year 2011.
Further, USPS anticipates ending this fiscal year with a loss of
approximately $10 billion.
USPS plays a key role in the success of the decennial census. Since
the advent of the mail-out/mail-back census in 1970, USPS has helped
to develop and improve the Bureau's census address list and has
delivered and returned census forms. A complete and accurate address
list is the cornerstone of a successful census because it both
identifies all households that receive a census questionnaire and
serves as the control mechanism for following up with individuals at
households that fail to respond. USPS maintains and regularly updates
a database (its Delivery Sequence File) of all addresses to which it
delivers mail and provides this information biannually to the Bureau.
The collaborative efforts between the Bureau and USPS have generally
gone well and demonstrate the importance of key leading collaboration
practices that we previously identified.[Footnote 5] Some of these
include:
* establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to
operate across agency boundaries;
* defining and articulating a common outcome; and:
* identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources.
* For example, in 1990, the Bureau and USPS established the
interagency Joint Committee for Census Planning to develop
opportunities for cooperation in support of the decennial census. This
committee defines and agrees on the respective roles and
responsibilities of the two agencies and addresses the compatibility
of standards and policies. In 1995, USPS and the Bureau signed a
memorandum of understanding that is still in effect which defined how
the two agencies will share addresses in order to conduct the
decennial census. Moreover, for the 2010 Census the agencies agreed to
have USPS destroy rather than return certain undeliverable mail
pieces, resulting in cost savings of $250,000 for the Bureau and over
$12 million in savings for USPS, according to Bureau estimates.
* Officials from both the Bureau and USPS believe their collaboration
related to the 2010 Census was mutually beneficial. For example,
Bureau officials stated that USPS delivered 417-million census mail
pieces, virtually 100 percent of which were delivered on time, and
according to USPS's 2010 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations,
census mailings generated over $202 million in revenue. Additionally,
the 2010 Census provided USPS with an opportunity to demonstrate the
benefits of a relatively new mail product, the Intelligent Mail
Barcode, which enables mailers to track the progress of their mail
through the many stages of processing to delivery. The Bureau was the
largest-ever user of Intelligent Mail Barcode for a single-mailing
effort, and the success of the mailing could help USPS market the
barcode to other customers. Among other benefits, the barcode enabled
the Bureau to identify which census forms were in the mail-stream on
their way back to the Bureau 3 to 5 days sooner than if the Bureau had
not used this technology (see figure 2). As a result, the Bureau was
able to remove 11 million addresses from the replacement mailing,
which led to nearly $5 million in postage savings.[Footnote 6]
Figure 2: Example of a Mail Piece Containing an Intelligent Mail
Barcode and Bureau Benefits:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustration of envelope]
Intended Bureau Benefits:
* Increased efficiency and reduced costs;
* Reduced amount of undeliverable as addressed mail;
* Better service information;
* Price reductions and other benefits for the Bureau.
Sources: U.S. Postal Service; GAO.
[End of figure]
Opportunities Exist to Enhance the Partnership between the Bureau and
USPS:
The Bureau and USPS Plan Additional Collaborative Efforts for the 2020
Census:
The Bureau and USPS are engaging in efforts to enhance their
collaboration. For example, given the Bureau's use of the Intelligent
Mail Barcode for the 2010 Census, the Bureau considered using the
barcode for its American Community Survey.[Footnote 7] Although Bureau
officials indicated they planned to use the Intelligent Mail Barcode
for the American Community Survey, since the completion of our audit,
the Bureau determined that the cost savings were insufficient to
justify the required investment to use the technology.
The Bureau is in the planning stages of working with USPS and other
federal agencies on a new program called the Geographic Support System
Initiative, which is intended to allow government agencies at all
levels to regularly share and continuously update their address lists,
making them more detailed and accurate. Specifically, the Bureau plans
to partner with USPS and other federal agencies as well as
approximately 40,000 tribal, state, and local governments. According
to current plans, USPS will continue providing the Bureau with
addresses from its Delivery Sequence File. Likewise, tribal, state,
and local governments, which maintain address lists for purposes such
as emergency response and property assessment, will have the
opportunity to share addresses with the Bureau throughout the decade,
rather than solely 2 years prior to the decennial, as had been the
case in prior decennials. However, Bureau officials have noted that in
moving forward one challenge will be coordinating adherence to the
confidentiality protections included in the Bureau's Title 13
provisions and USPS's Title 39.[Footnote 8] Ultimately, by leveraging
address information from USPS and other government entities during the
non-decennial years, Bureau officials anticipate that they will be in
a position in 2019 to move away from a full door-to-door address
canvassing of every housing unit, to a more targeted effort.[Footnote
9] Address canvassing is one of the Bureau's largest and most
expensive field operations, and Bureau officials stated a more
targeted program could lead to significant cost savings.
The Bureau and USPS also plan to update their 1995 memorandum of
understanding to, among other matters, reflect routine changes that
have occurred over time (e.g., update contact information), and help
ensure that both agencies benefit from their collaborative efforts.
Bureau officials explained that under the 1995 memorandum, the
agencies' collaboration typically benefited the Bureau more than USPS.
Now both agencies would like to improve each other's address and
geographic information. One new effort anticipated under the revised
memorandum of understanding would provide USPS with the Bureau's
geographic data products and support, which USPS hopes to use to
improve its mail routing and other business decisions. The revised
memorandum of understanding is expected to be approved later this year.
The Bureau Could Better Leverage USPS Local Knowledge by Recruiting
USPS Mail Carriers to Work Temporarily for the Census:
Opportunities exist for the Bureau to take advantage of the knowledge
and experience of USPS mail carriers, including retirees. Bureau and
USPS officials agree that USPS city and rural mail carriers are
familiar with the local living conditions in their communities and
that this knowledge could help the Bureau conduct aspects of the 2020
Census more effectively. Mail carriers have experience and knowledge
about the dwellings on their routes and could help find unconventional
and hidden housing units (e.g., converted basements and attics) and
identify single versus multi-unit homes. Residents of these households
are often more difficult to find and count. Additionally, in some
communities, mail carriers have information about hazardous locations
along delivery routes (e.g., houses with an unchained dog or other
dangers such as structurally unsafe porches), which could make census
workers' jobs safer and easier.
In hiring for the 2010 Census, the Bureau did not do a targeted
recruitment of USPS employees and retirees, a potential missed
opportunity given that there were approximately 300,000 USPS mail
carriers and approximately 100,000 additional retired mail carriers at
that time.[Footnote 10] Still, the Bureau hired approximately 2,400
USPS employees as temporary census employees at the Bureau's $15
average pay rate.[Footnote 11] The potential benefits of mail
carriers' local knowledge was evident, for example, in a case we
observed in Louisiana, where a retired mail carrier used his knowledge
of local living conditions to successfully manage census field
operations in the area most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Specifically, the mail carrier knew which addresses to remove and
which to add to the address list based on his experience delivering
mail in those neighborhoods. In moving forward for 2020, a targeted
campaign--e.g., via job listings in mail carrier union newsletters and
publications--could help the Bureau recruit more mail carriers to
conduct census operations.
That said, using full-time mail carriers paid at much higher USPS wage
rates--either for additional duties during the work day or as part of
a "postal holiday" (where regular mail operations would be suspended
in order to conduct census activities)--would not be cost-effective.
Regarding cost, in 2010, the average USPS mail carrier was paid about
$41 (city) or $34 (rural) per hour including benefits for regular time
worked, compared to the average hourly pay of about $15 paid to census
enumerators. Moreover, in conducting the 2010 Census, it took about 45
million staff hours to contact nonrespondents. Because of the
difference in pay rates and the large number of staff hours involved,
it would not be practical for mail carriers to perform census duties
in lieu of census workers because of the higher costs and disruption
it would cause to U.S. mail service.
Reducing the Number of "Undeliverable as Addressed" Mailings Could
Improve the Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness of USPS Operations:
During the 2010 Census, USPS personnel were concerned about resources
spent attempting to deliver census mailings with undeliverable
addresses. Bureau officials initially noted that the roughly 19-
million undelivered forms were higher than the 12-million
undeliverable forms anticipated. According to officials from both
agencies, the different purposes of their address lists contributes to
undeliverable mailings; the Bureau's Master Address File supports the
mission of counting everyone in the nation and contains all addresses,
vacant or occupied, where someone may reside. However, USPS does not
support the delivery of mail to vacant housing units. Indeed,
preliminary data confirms that some 53 percent of undelivered forms
were because of housing units being vacant.
According to the Bureau the difference between the 19-million and the
12-million undeliverable forms was primarily due to replacement
mailing forms that were sent to nonresponding households, and not
because of an increase in its initial projection that approximately 12-
million addresses would be undeliverable. Nevertheless, while the
Bureau is able to explain the difference between the actual and
projected number of undelivered forms, the data still show that USPS
processed a significant number of forms--19-million (the initial mail
out of forms went to approximately 120-million addresses). In a
subsequent conversation, Bureau officials agreed that in looking
forward to 2020, it would be beneficial to both agencies to research
ways to reduce the number of undeliverable forms. Indeed, one such
example to reduce the undeliverable workload was highlighted in a
Census lessons-learned document dated June 2010. In that document, it
was recommended that addresses that do not have a city or state be
eliminated from the address list provided to USPS. However, the Bureau
will still need to determine how it will get a census form to those
housing units.
In responding to a copy of our draft report the Bureau provided a
summary of preliminary reason codes for why approximately 12-million
initial forms were not delivered. Thus, now that the Bureau has
compiled this information it will be important for the Bureau to work
with USPS to assess whether strategies can be developed to reduce the
number of undeliverable as addressed mailings such as not delivering
to housing units that do not have a complete address or that do not
have a mail box. Given the fiscal situation of USPS, reducing the
undeliverable workload is important because these mailings incur
additional operational and waste-disposal costs for USPS and
additional postage fees for the Bureau.
Various Factors Could Affect the Bureau's Use of USPS Facilities in
2020:
For the 2010 Census, the Bureau operated 494 local census offices
across the country. The Bureau works with GSA to identify, convert,
and lease space for its local offices during the census. When
identifying space, GSA's policy is to first search its property
database for government and USPS-owned facilities, and if none are
available to then turn to commercial facilities. For the 2010 Census,
the Bureau leased ten government-owned facilities and two USPS
facilities: one in Waycross, Georgia, and the other in Johnstown,
Pennsylvania. USPS received $196,990 on the 16-month lease of the
facility in Waycross, Georgia, and $132,702 on the 14-month lease in
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Bureau's requirements for office space
included a minimum of 6,197 square feet in specific locations across
the country, and a short fixed time period. GSA officials stated that
difficulty in meeting these requirements was the principal reason why
the Bureau leased very few government and USPS-owned facilities. USPS
officials stated that ongoing efforts to downsize USPS will probably
increase availability of facility space that could be used by the
Bureau in the next census, but USPS hopes to sell these facilities,
and it is uncertain how many will be available in 2020 (and what
condition those facilities would be in if they were available).
Additionally, Bureau officials have not determined how many local
census offices will be needed for 2020 or where they will need to be
located. These and other unknown factors, such as potential changes to
Bureau requirements, could affect the Bureau's need to lease space
from USPS in 2020.
Conclusions:
Bureau and USPS collaboration is important to achieving a complete and
accurate census. While such collaboration is unlikely to lead to
significant new funds for USPS, it could make aspects of the census
more cost-effective. To that end, the Bureau and USPS have undertaken,
and are currently engaging in, efforts to enhance collaboration that
will likely result in more efficient mailings and more detailed and
accurate address lists. Additionally, by updating the 1995 memorandum
of understanding, the Bureau and USPS will help ensure that both
agencies benefit from their collaborative efforts. However, because of
potential changes to the design of the decennial census and USPS's
financial condition, it is difficult to predict how the Bureau and
USPS's collaboration will evolve for the 2020 Census.
Building upon the success of current and past partnership efforts,
opportunities exist to enhance the Bureau and USPS's collaborative
efforts. First, the Bureau could better leverage USPS local knowledge
and tap into a large labor pool by doing targeted recruitment of USPS
mail carriers, including retirees, to work temporarily for the census.
Second, during the 2010 Census, USPS spent time and money attempting
to deliver millions of census mailings that were returned as
undeliverable. A focus on solutions for delivering census forms to
addresses where the Bureau does not have a complete address could
decrease USPS's operational and waste-disposal costs.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Given the importance of Bureau and USPS collaboration in successfully
executing census operations, as part of future partnership activities,
we recommend that the Postmaster General and the Secretary of Commerce
direct their agencies to expand their collaborative efforts by:
* determining if there are ways that the Bureau could work with USPS
to target recruitment opportunities to mail carriers, and:
* assessing whether strategies can be developed to reduce the number
of undeliverable as addressed mailings.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
On August 24, 2011 we sent a draft of this report to USPS and on
September 15, 2011, the Vice President of Product Information at USPS
provided written comments that are reprinted in appendix I. USPS
generally agreed with the overall findings and recommendations of the
report. In regards to better leveraging USPS local knowledge by
recruiting mail carriers to work temporarily for the Census, USPS
agreed that this may be an opportunity to help the Census Bureau
conduct aspects of the 2020 Census, so long as the work did not
disrupt mail service. Moreover, USPS agreed that reducing the number
of undeliverable mailings will reduce USPS operational costs, and
stated that it will work with the Bureau through the interagency joint
committee to develop strategies to reduce them in future mailings.
Additionally, on August 24, 2011 we sent a draft of this report to the
Department of Commerce and the Bureau and on September 15, 2011, the
Acting Secretary of Commerce provided written comments from the Census
Bureau. Those comments are reprinted in appendix II. The Bureau in its
comments was silent on whether it agreed with the recommendation to
target recruitment opportunities to mail carriers, however, in a
subsequent discussion stated that it did agree with that first
recommendation. The Bureau disagreed with the finding and
recommendation for reducing the undeliverable as addressed mailing
workload, stating they had already analyzed the available reasons for
why mailings were undeliverable and because the number of unique
addresses that were undeliverable did not vary substantially from
Bureau projections. Further, the Bureau provided additional
information related to one of our findings that we incorporated into
the report, as appropriate. Specifically, the Bureau informed us that
since the completion of our audit work, it has opted not to use the
Intelligent Mail Barcode in its American Community Survey. This new
information is reflected in the body of the report. In the comments,
the Bureau also included an attachment of analysis that was not
reprinted in this report because the data were still in draft.
The Bureau noted that our report, in its discussion of undeliverable
as addressed mailings, implies that the majority of these mailings
were the result of invalid addresses. Our draft report did not intend
to imply that the majority of undeliverable as addressed mailings were
the result of invalid addresses. In fact, our report emphasizes that
the different purposes of the address lists for USPS and the Census
Bureau contributed to the many undeliverable mailings. We have revised
the language in the finding to further clarify this point.
The Bureau stated that our report also implies that the Bureau
underestimated the number of undeliverable as addressed mailings by 7
million because of a miscommunication between the Census and USPS.
Specifically, the Bureau in its response to our draft report
acknowledges that it never clearly communicated to USPS that
undeliverable mailings would be higher than the number of
undeliverable addresses. According to Bureau officials, this is
because undeliverable addresses receive multiple mailings. We
understand that it was 12 million addresses that contributed to the 19-
million undeliverable forms; however, we believe our point to reduce
the number of undeliverable mailings is still valid because USPS still
had to process and attempt to deliver 19-million forms. In a
subsequent conversation Bureau officials agreed that finding ways to
reduce undeliverable mailings would benefit both agencies. We have
revised this section of the report.
The Bureau believes much of the undeliverable as addressed operational
and waste-disposal costs for USPS and additional postage fees for the
Bureau were both anticipated and unavoidable. However, we believe that
if the Bureau can reduce the number of undeliverable as addressed
mailings, then it can avoid the cost to process forms that can not be
delivered. For example, in a Census lessons-learned document dated
June 2010, it was recommended that one way to reduce the undeliverable
as addressed workload would be to eliminate addresses that did not
have a city or state. We believe that steps to reduce the
undeliverable as addressed workload, such as the one highlighted in
the lessons-learned document, can prevent USPS from incurring
unnecessary operational and waste-disposal cost and the Bureau from
incurring unnecessary postage fees.
Finally, the Bureau disagreed with our recommendation to analyze the
reasons why there were more undeliverable as addressed mailings than
expected and to develop strategies and procedures to reduce them,
because according to the Bureau, it has analyzed the reasons why
mailings were undeliverable and the number of "unique" addresses that
were undeliverable did not vary substantially from its projections. We
believe that there are opportunities to reduce undeliverable mailings.
We have revised our recommendation so it now reads that the Bureau
"assess whether strategies can be developed to reduce the number of
undeliverable as addressed mailings." This change recognizes that the
Bureau has compiled the information to understand the various reasons
why there were so many undelivered forms and can now use that data to
assess whether strategies can be developed to reduce the number of
undeliverable as addressed mailings.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Commerce, the
Under Secretary of Economic Affairs, the Director of the U.S. Census
Bureau, the Postmaster General,
and interested congressional committees. The report also is available
at no charge on GAO's Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you have any questions on matters discussed in this report, please
contact Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or by e-mail at
goldenkoffr@gao.gov or Phillip Herr at (202) 512-8509 or by e-mail at
herrp@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional
Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this
report. Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix III.
Signed by:
Robert Goldenkoff:
Director:
Strategic Issues:
Signed by:
Phillip Herr:
Director:
Physical Infrastructure:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Comments from the U.S. Postal Service:
Vice President:
Product Information:
United States Postal Service:
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW:
Room 3667:
Washington, 20260-5626:
September 15, 2011:
Mr. Robert Goldenkoff:
Director, Strategic Issues:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington DC 20548-0001:
Dear Mr. Goldenkoff,
This letter is in response to the draft report titled 'Census Bureau
and Postal Service Should Pursue Opportunities to Further Enhance
Collaboration' cosigned by Mr. Phillip Herr.
As indicated in your draft report, the Postal Service agrees that the
collaboration between the Census Bureau and the USPS for the decennial
2010 census went generally well. We will continue to work
collaboratively through the interagency Joint Committee for Census
Planning in preparation for the decennial 2020 census. We also agree
that working with the Census Bureau in improving the informational
share of addressing information between both organizations through a
revised Memorandum of Understanding would be mutually beneficial.
In regards to better leveraging USPS local knowledge by recruiting
USPS mail carriers, both active and retired employees, to work
temporarily for the Census; we agree that this may be an opportunity
to help the Census Bureau conduct aspects of the 2020 Census more
effectively and potentially safer. However, as you also note in your
draft, it is imperative that this activity does not create disruption
in mail service. We will work with the Census Bureau through the
interagency Joint Committee to determine if there are ways to
facilitate this activity as we progress towards the decennial 2020
census.
In regards to reducing the number of "Undeliverable as Addressed"
mail, improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of USPS
operations; we agree that reducing the number of Undeliverable as
Addressed mailpieces will reduce USPS operational cost and postage
fees for the Census Bureau. Again, we will work with the Census Bureau
through the interagency joint committee to analyze the causes behind
more undeliverable as addressed mail than expected and develop
strategies to reduce them in future mailings.
If I can be of any further assistance, or provide you with any further
information, please do not hesitate to contact me at 202-268-7458 or
via email at Jim.P.Cochrane@usps.gov.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
James P. Cochrane
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce:
Note: Page numbers in the draft report may differ from those in this
report.
United States Department Of Commerce:
The Secretary of Commerce:
Washington, DC 20230:
September 15, 2011:
Mr. Robert Goldenkoff:
Director, Strategic Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Goldenkoff:
The U.S. Department of Commerce appreciates the opportunity to comment
on the U.S. Government Accountability Office's draft report titled,
Decennial Census: Census. Bureau and Postal Service Should Pursue
Opportunities. to Further Enhance Collaboration (GAO-11-874).
The Department of Commerce's comments on this report are enclosed.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Acting Secretary Rebecca M. Blank:
Enclosure:
[End of letter]
U.S. Department of Commerce Comments on the U.S. Government
Accountability Office Draft Report titled 'Decennial Census: Census
Bureau and Postal Service Should Pursue Opportunities to Further
Enhance Collaboration' (GA0-11-874):
September 2011:
The U.S. Census Bureau would like to thank the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) for its efforts in examining the ways in
which the Census Bureau collaborated with the United States Postal
Service (USPS) during the 2010 Census in order to ascertain enhanced
ways to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the next
decennial census.
The Census Bureau provided a few comments about statements and
conclusions in this report.
* Page 6, last paragraph: The Bureau and USPS are engaging in efforts
to enhance their collaboration. For example, given the Bureau's
success using the Intelligent Mail Barcode for the 2010 Census, the
Bureau conducted a business case which outlined the potential benefits
of using the barcode for its American Community Survey.
Census Bureau response: Since our discussion with auditors about the
business case to employ Intelligent Mail Barcode in order to reduce
the second questionnaire mailings, the Census Bureau received the
results of its ACS Internet Test. Based on those results and our
planned internet implementation in 2013, it appears likely that there
would not be sufficient harvestable savings to pay off the Improving
Operational Efficiency (IOE) required investment; therefore, all work
on the IOE for postal tracking was stopped.
* Page 7, footnote 8: 13 U.S.C. generally prohibits the Bureau from
disclosing data it collects about individuals...information with the
Bureau.
Census Bureau response: The word "generally" should be stricken from
this footnote. "Generally" implies that an action is normally, usually
or "by and large" taken; thus, the word "generally" implies a lesser
degree of observance or adherence to an action or rule. Therefore,
using this terminology to describe prohibitions against the disclosure
of data collected by or on behalf of respondents under the provisions
of Title 13 is not consistent with the strong protections afforded by
13 U.S.C. Section 9. Section 9 does not provide for a "general
prohibition," but a very clear mandate of confidentiality. Section 9
may have exceptions, but the exceptions are extremely narrow and
nondisclosure is mandatory when the exceptions do not apply.
* Page 10: Reducing the Number of "Undeliverable as Addressed" [UAA]
Mailings Could Improve the Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness of USPS
Operations
Census Bureau response: The Census Bureau is concerned that this
statement, along with its accompanying discussion, could imply that
the majority of UAA mailings were the result of invalid addresses.
While some of the UAA mailings were due to invalid addresses, the
overwhelming majority of UAA mailings were cases of valid addresses
that were vacant units (53.42%) or where there was no mail receptacle
to deposit the mail (15.11%). The attached breakdown of UAA Reason
Codes provides further detail and this data was provided by USPS. This
section of the report implies that the Census Bureau underestimated
the number of UAA mailings by 7 million because of a miscommunication
between the Census Bureau and USPS. However, the actual number of
unique UAA mailing addresses was only 400,000 greater than the
original Census Bureau estimate of 12 million. The Census Bureau does,
however, acknowledge that its initial projection of 12 million UAAs
was never clearly communicated to the USPS as 12 million unique
"addresses" that would be undeliverable versus a much higher number of
"mailings" that would be undeliverable.
While the accompanying discussion to this finding notes that the UAA
mailings resulted in additional operational and waste disposal costs
for USPS and additional postage fees for the Census Bureau, the Census
Bureau wants to emphasize that many of these costs were both
anticipated and unavoidable. Indeed, USPS and the Census Bureau agreed
in a Memorandum of Understanding to allow USPS to save funds by
destroying the advance letters and reminder postcards for all UAA
mailings instead of transporting them hack to the Census Bureau as
part of the First Class service already paid for by the Census
Bureau. The Census Bureau negotiated these terms as part of an effort
to reduce costs USPS would incur if it followed its normal procedures.
Undeliverable questionnaires were returned to the Census Bureau for
disposal, ensuring there was no additional disposal cost to USPS for
undeliverable questionnaires. The additional postage fees incurred by
the Census Bureau are essential in supporting our mission of counting
everyone in the Nation. Mailing replacement questionnaires to those
households that did not return an initial questionnaire is part of
that same mission to ensure a complete count.
*Page 12, Recommendation 2: "...analyzing the reasons why there were
more undeliverable as addressed mailings than expected, and developing
strategies and procedures to reduce them."
Census Bureau response: Because the Census Bureau has already analyzed
the available reasons for why mailings were undeliverable and because
the number of unique addresses that were undeliverable did not vary
substantially from Census Bureau projections (as described above), the
Census Bureau does not agree with this recommendation for the reasons
stated above.
[End of section]
Appendix III: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contacts:
Robert Goldenkoff, (202) 512-2757 or goldenkoffr@gao.gov:
Phillip Herr, (202) 512-8509 or herrp@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
Other key contributors to this report include Lisa Pearson, Assistant
Director; Kathleen Turner, Assistant Director; Ronald Fecso, Chief
Statistician; David Bobruff; Robert Gebhart; Richard Hung; Hannah
Laufe; Andrea Levine; Sarah Veale; Crystal Wesco; Jarrod West; and
Timothy Wexler.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] 39 U.S.C. § 2005(a)(1).
[2] See, for example, GAO, U.S. Postal Service: Dire Financial Outlook
and Changing Mail Use Require Network Restructuring, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-759T] (Washington, D.C.: June 15,
2011).
[3] See GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-278] (Washington, D.C.: February
2011).
[4] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance
and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21,
2005).
[5] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance
and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21,
2005).
[6] The replacement mailing was part of the Bureau's mailing strategy
and was a second census form that was sent to addresses on the
Bureau's Master Address File in an effort to increase mail response
rates.
[7] The American Community Survey collects demographic, social,
economic, and housing data. Prior to June 2011, the survey was sent to
250,000 households a month. Since then, the sample size has been
increased to approximately 295,000 households each month.
[8] 13 U.S.C. § 9 prohibits the Bureau from disclosing data it
collects about individuals and establishments in a manner that would
identify those individuals and businesses. Similarly, 39 U.S.C. § 412
prohibits USPS from disclosing names or addresses (past or present) of
postal patrons or other persons. However, the Census Address List
Improvement Act of 1994 authorized USPS to share its address
information with the Bureau.
[9] In the 2010 Census the Bureau conducted full address canvassing,
where census workers generally went door-to-door and attempted to
verify every address in the country. Targeted address canvassing would
limit this operation to areas in which the Bureau believes more work
is needed to develop an accurate and complete address list.
[10] USPS officials stated that they have no way of predicting with
any certainty the make-up of USPS's workforce in 2020.
[11] Of the 2,400 USPS employees, the Bureau did not identify how many
were mail carriers. The Bureau hired almost 10,000 retired federal
employees, but did not track how many of them were former USPS
employees.
[End of section]
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